Natural Blues
by httpslashmeme
Summary: Based off the tumblr prompt by none-gavin: "An AU where for your entire life you've only seen black and white, until you receive the first touch from your soulmate and color blooms before your very eyes." Dan had never seen color until the day he met Phil.
**Based off the tumblr prompt by none-gavin: "An AU where for your entire life you've only seen black and white, until you receive the first touch from your soulmate and color blooms before your very eyes. The colors don't stay when you're alone, but when they're there by your side and you're touching? Everything is beautiful."**

Dan was a phenomenon to doctors. Born color blind, with no family history of the genetic disease. All the rods and cones should have been fully functional and a properly functioning, along with the occipital lobe in his brain. But, for some reason, he couldn't see color. He'd been tested so many times, been to hospital after hospital, yet no amount of treatment would work.

So he'd been raised completely colorblind, always being left out. But he'd learned to live a meager half-life alongside his disadvantage. Some might say that it wasn't living, but Dan hadn't known anything else. He knew there was no way of him ever seeing the way the sun's flames burned the horizon different colors, or a field of wildflowers in the middle of summer. However, that fact didn't stop him from giving up hope.

Dan never was popular when he was younger. I guess nearly failing Year One doesn't set you up for a future with friends. They were all too busy coloring their rainbows, with yellow sunshines and green grass. Children at that age didn't understand the concept of not seeing color, and they can be extremely insensitive.

He remembered one event in particular, at the beginning the first year of primary school. The class had started their first art assignment: a self-portrait. Everyone had been excited, even Dan, knowing that this was a chance to prove artistic greatness. Dan knew exactly what he wanted to draw: an average face, but with a spectacular background. He had found the perfect set of shaded paints to create his masterpiece.

After hours and at least 5 sheets of crumpled paper, the piece was finished. It stayed true to Dan's personality, with his surroundings overpowering everything. It was beautifully crafted and his pride radiated around it. However, the other kids disagreed, as he learned when "Show and Tell" came around. The five year olds were brutal, shouting complaints about the way he colored his skin green, and why his hair was purple.

This crushed Dan. He had worked incredibly hard on his self-portrait. Who were those kids to judge his work. The teacher had made the class apologize, but Dan wasn't stupid. He knew that no one had really meant it. The way they mocked him left a bitter taste in his mouth. From that day forward, he never drew another picture again.

To Dan, everything was grey, in almost every manner of speaking. Not just the literal sense of how he saw things, but also his perspective on life. To him, the world wasn't exciting without color. No one could understand the broken feeling he got when someone argued that his life couldn't be that different, as he obviously could see different shades. But they didn't understand the concept. It was the idea that society as a whole was unified in their interpretations of color, or the emotions people feel by looking at them. Those people didn't realize how often color is needed in day to day life. Driving, clothing, and- don't even get me started- art. He was left out of so many things growing up, and he couldn't help but feel bitter about it.

He'd found some consultation in YouTube, AmazingPhil being his favorite channel. He never had to worry missing something in the video because they all lacked color. This newfound love for these online videos (or maybe the creator himself) erupted quickly, impacting Dan's life tremendously. Somehow he managed to contact his internet idol via Skype, and the friendship was quickly budding. Dan had explained to Phil in depth his lacking of color vision. Phil seemed to be the only person who really understood such a predicament, and he wasn't afraid to voice his opinions on Dan's predicament. Having someone in his life that was able to see past his inability to see color was extremely refreshing. Phil had made such an impact that he leaped without hesitation when Phil offered him a chance to meet face to face.

The train ride to Manchester was almost unbearably slow. Dan was so anxious, he couldn't sit still. He paced constantly, and the other train goers were growing annoyed. What felt like hours on top of hours only ended up being minutes. The entrance into the station could not have taken any longer. The claustrophobia had settled in, and Dan burst out of the doors as soon as they opened, barely remembering to grab his bags on the way off the train.

Phil wasn't waiting like Dan had expected. He hadn't even shown up after ten minutes, and the anxiety was settling in. He had just about given up hope 20 minutes later when an unmistakable fringe appeared into view. Dan's eyes lit up, and his heart rate increased tenfold. It was really happening.

Phil had walked up to him, breathless, saying something about traffic, or oversleeping, or something like that. Dan isn't care though. The only thing that mattered was that he was there.

Phil stuck out his hand awkwardly. Dan eagerly took it and went to shake vigorously, when his sight changed and blurred. A splitting pain burst from behind his eyes and made its way from his head to his heat. He lost his balance for a second. Phil immediately took worry at this sudden action and went to catch him.

"Are you alright? Dan? Dan!"

"But... Your eyes..."

 **A/N: I saw this prompt when going through iFunny yesterday, and this occurred... I need to stop looking at OTP prompts because I can't read one without writing it out. I know this doesn't have much dialogue. I still have yet to develop the skill of writing realistic language. Also, any glaring grammar mistakes, or even slight ones, send me a comment/PM and I'll get right on it. Those are my pet peeves whe it comes to fanfiction.**

 **Also, my friend and I are working on a superhero AU, so that should be out by the end of the summer.**

 **And, if you made it this far, thanks for reading!**


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